North Korean workers in Russia are suffering from unpaid wages and discriminatory treatment by Russian employers. In response, North Korean managers are suppressing workers’ complaints to avoid diplomatic tensions.
According to a source in Russia recently, three teams of North Korean workers built a mixed-use building in Tyumen over the past four months. The one 15-man team finished the job on Oct. 18, but the Russian construction company kept delaying payment of their wages. Eventually, the workers had to leave without receiving all the money they were owed.
“On Oct. 20, the Russian construction company said it would transfer the balance to the workers’ next project, but then the company cut off contact,” the source said. “In response, the North Korean construction company managing the workers complained to the Tyumen regional authorities and the police. But they were just told to wait.”
Russian workers at another local construction company who were aware of the situation sided with the deadbeat company. “It’s not like the company said it wouldn’t pay, so why make such a fuss?” they said. “It looks like the company is facing (financial) issues.”
According to the source, Russian employers regularly demean North Korean workers, telling them they should be “grateful” for employment and mocking their country’s poverty – even making disparaging references to North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia.
“These kinds of comments from the Russians is very offensive to the North Korean workers in Tyumen,” the source said. “The workers are angry because they’re being treated like nothing by some Russians, even though they’re doing the best they can in Russia.”
This isn’t the first time Russian companies have withheld wages or vanished after projects are completed, but the situation has grown more tense as Russians mock “poor Koreans” over North Korea’s military support in Ukraine, the source said.
Fearing that frustrated workers might spark diplomatic incidents through confrontations with Russians, North Korean managers in Tyumen have ordered them to stay calm and avoid conflicts, even when facing delayed payments.
Daily NK works with a network of sources in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. For security reasons, their identities remain anonymous.
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